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“World of Jobs”.

We spend great part of our lives at our jobs, so choosing a right career is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. Many students finish high school and begin college without a clear idea of what they want to do in future.

Part of the problem is the size of the job market itself. With so many kinds of jobs how can you tell which will interest you? Some of occupations are already overcrowded. In old industries there may be little need for new workers, while new and growing industries will offer jobs now and in the future.

Find out where your interests and talents lie. Postponing a decision is an error people make. "I'll get started tomorrow or next week, or next year," - many people think. These people refuse to face the problem, hoping it will go away. But if you don't take the first step now, how can you plan for the future, how can you take the right way? Such people miss many opportunities. First start with yourself, make a list of your interests, talents and abilities. Most people have a lot of these, but at the beginning they are undeveloped and may not seem outstanding.

The interest inventory that follows covers the major fields in which most people find careers: science, art, social service, business, sales and so on. Sometimes we say that someone we know is 'a square peg in a round hole'. This means that person we are talking about is not suited for the job he is doing. Unfortunately, many people in the world are 'square pegs'. But to be a 'square peg' is not a real problem, a real problem for millions of people is to be unemployed.

Unemployment especially hits poor and working class families the hardest, not because this people are more likely to be unemployed, but because they don't have financial resource to fall back on. Unemployment exists primarily for two reasons: first - the existence of millions of unemployed people tends to present most of those working from asking for higher wages since they can be replaced easily, second - in their search for profits, corporations are interested in finding the cheapest labor. The problem of unemployment is also connected with the economic crisis.

Text 17

Teacher Ryokan was requested by his sister-in-law to come to her house and talk to her son. “He does no work, squanders his father’s money in wild parties and is neglecting the estate,” she complained. “If he does not reform, we will be ruined.”

Ryokan went to his brother’s house and met his nephew who was genuinely pleased to see him. The two of them had spent many hours together before Ryokan had entered the monastery.

The young man knew why his uncle had come and braced himself for the scolding he was sure he would receive. But Ryokan said not a word in rebuke, the whole day.

The next morning when it was time for him to go, he put on his garments and then said to his nephew: “Will you help me tie the thongs of my sandals? My hands shake and I cannot do it.” His nephew helped him willingly. “Thank you,” said Ryokan. “A man becomes older and feebler day by day. You remember how strong and robust I used to be?” “I do,” said his nephew, thoughtfully. “I do indeed remember how you used to be.”

It was the moment of truth for him. He suddenly realized that his mother and all those who had looked after him had become old and that it was now his turn to look after them and to take on the responsibilities of the household and the community.

He gave up his dissolute life forever.